Summary Box: Dow average nears 12,000

TECH JUMP: Technology stocks rose after Intel Corp. increased its dividend and said it would buy back more of its stock. The company gained 1.7 percent.

OPTIMISM ON THE ECONOMY: Materials companies gained 1.2 percent after a report from the National Association for Business Economics showed that economists are more positive about economic growth and the job market than at any time since the start of the Great Recession.

THE INDEXES: The Dow gained 108 to 11,980. The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 7 to 1,291 and the Nasdaq rose 28 to 2,718.